Fig. 5

Multiple sequence alignment of the PTAP sequences of eight primary viral isolates containing PTAP duplication. The sequences were derived from the plasma viral RNA collected at multiple longitudinal time-points and by sequencing the PCR fragments. In three subjects (T004, 2012, 2032), the PTAP motif duplication involved the duplication of 14 amino acids. In the other five subjects, the duplicated sequence length was shorter containing 12 (2018), 11(2020), 9 (2037) or 8 (T014, and 2006) residues. Of note, in all the sequences, the ‘PTAP’ core motif was intact in the original and the duplicated sequences. Note that in two subjects (2014 and 2018) a mixed infection of single- and double-PTAP viral strains could be seen by conventional sequencing. In subject T014, PTAP duplication was observed only at a single time-point M24. For subject 2006, the plasma sample was available only at the baseline. The vertical dashed line demarcates the original and the duplicated PTAP motifs. The arrows indicate the direction of the RT polymerization. Cons: The consensus subtype C gag sequence of 14 amino acids. The same 14 amino acid consensus sequence was used twice in the analysis for convenience. *For these five samples, only gag p6, not the full-length gag, was amplified. These sequences have not been deposited in the Genbank and are not part of the phylogenetic tree presented in Fig. 3. D: the duplicated PTAP motif, O, the original PTAP motif